MariChat May 2018
by Lunar-L
Summary: A collection of drabbles and ficlets based on the MariChat May prompts. Storyline L'âge de L'amour continued as a separate story as it became confusing for people to follow due to this website's inability to move chapters around without needing to re-upload altogether.
1. Part 3 of Sweet Tooth

MariChat May is kinda important to me. It was the first fandom event I ever took part in last year and despite the fact that it took me months to actually finish it, I stuck it out and made a finished fic from it which I even ended up starting a sequel for. So I'm taking part again this year.

Here we go.

* * *

 **Day 1: You're injured, please stay the night. Please.**

"But your house is waaaaarm!" Chat Noir exclaimed with a pout.

"Chat, I said no."

Marinette glared at the boy leaning forward in her desk chair and sighed. She was entirely done with his nonsense tonight.

Chat was asking to stay longer. He'd already tried tempting her with movies and video games but she desperately wanted to just curl up in her duvet, drop her head to the fresh pillowcase, and drift away to a plane of existence where none of her usual worries could follow her. She was already exhausted and had to be up relatively early tomorrow to help in the bakery so the shorter she cut this argument, the better. She glared harder at him.

"But I can't go outside nooow. I'm sooo comfy and tired," he continued to whine.

"Which," she insisted, "is exactly _why_ you should go home."

His playful attitude changed so that he appeared thoughtful and serious instead and he wouldn't quite look at her. "I don't want to go home," he said in a quiet voice.

Marinette watched as he slowly moved into a dejected slouch and wondered what it was about her usually happy partner she had missed tonight.

"Is something...wrong?" she asked, worried.

"No," he mumbled, "I'm just...lonely."

Marinette rolled her eyes before she could even acknowledge to herself that that was probably the lamest excuse she'd ever heard him come up with before. And she was including the time he'd insisted she should pet his hair because it would be good for her mental health. And honestly, he was a terrible actor. After all, no one was lonely enough to look quite that miserable.

"I am far too tired to entertain you and your loneliness right now," she told him, "so unless you're hurt or something I'm going to have to insist you leave now."

She watched a curious concoction of emotions cross Chat's face as he seemed to contemplate something. He seemed hurt at first, followed quickly by a puzzled expression as if he was trying hard to grasp at an idea he'd had but hadn't quite figured out, and finally ending with a smile that could only be described as mischievous.

"Chat..." she started in a warning tone of voice but it was too late. As soon as she had opened her mouth to speak, Chat Noir, ridiculous as he was, had thrown himself sideways from her desk chair in the most dramatic fashion.

He lay there, on his side for a moment before faking a pained expression and saying, "Ouch. I'm hurt. You need to look after me now, Princess."

Marinette gave a long sigh, placed her fingertips to her forehead and looked at him.

"This is stupid."

"You said...you said if I was hurt. And now I am. I bit my tongue. Now I can't possibly make it home tonight."

He smirked widely, still sprawled across her floor as she rolled her eyes again before ridding her face of any trace of emotion.

"Oh no," she said in a complete monotone, "Wherever will you go? You're injured, please stay the night...Please."

Chat snickered at her deadpan delivery before sitting upright on the floor at her feet to look up at her pyjama-clad form hopefully.

"Seriously, can I stay a while? I really have been pretty lonely since my best friend went on vacation. I won't give you any trouble. You can go to bed if you want and I'll just nap down here." He looked away, embarrassed. "It's just nice to be around you."

Marinette stood stock still in shock. She hadn't even considered he'd actually been serious. God, she was a bad friend, wasn't she? She looked at him and considered her options.

"I'll get you a blanket," she told him.


	2. Part 12 of L'age de L'amour

**Day 2 - "Can I pick princess?"**

"I don't like the sound of that," Chat said suspiciously from his spot on Marinette's chaise, "It sounds like she knows something and just wants you to admit you're keeping something from her."

"I know, " Marinette said as she spun back and forth in her desk chair, hands buried in her hair, "and you know Alya, she'll never leave me alone until she gets what she wants one way or another."

He frowned and watched as she tugged at the locks her fingers were locked on, wincing in sympathy whenever a few stray hairs were pulled loose. Quickly making his way over to her, he placed his own hands over hers, encouraging her with gentle strokes across the backs of her hands to let go and surrender her hair. As soon as she relaxed and released her grip, he pulled her fingers towards his mouth so that he could place sweet little kisses on the tips. He dropped to his knees between her legs to avoid towering over her, but held onto her hands, determined to stop her from hurting herself any more.

"Do you want to tell her? That we're together?" he asked. He watched as her eyes widened with a touch of panic and she shook her head for a moment before she hesitated instead and scrunched her eyebrows together.

"I don't want to put her in any danger. What if she ever slipped up and said to somebody that she knew your girlfriend? Hawkmoth could target her. And we only just started dating. It's still new to me, to us. I wouldn't really know where to start if I did tell her," she sighed, "But I hate lying to her, and I'm sure she knows I'm lying. Why else would I be refusing to let her set me up or avoiding talking about dating at all?"

He snickered a little at that. "Because not everyone is desperate for a boyfriend or a girlfriend?" he said, "Just because Alya's got Nino doesn't mean you need someone. You can be perfectly happy without obsessing over some guy."

"Yeah, but-" she glanced at him before her eyes fluttered away in obvious embarrassment, "-it's kinda...out of character for me."

It took him several seconds to realise his jaw was hanging open and he snapped it closed and squeezed her hands unconsciously, clearing his throat in order to buy him some more time to think about what to say.

As Chat, he wasn't supposed to know much about Marinette's life when he didn't see her other than what she told him herself. So, as Chat, it made perfect sense for him to be surprised that his girlfriend had apparently been a little boy-crazy around her best friend in the past. But he was pretty sure he didn't seem a little vaguely surprised like she would expect from him. Because honestly, he was outright shocked.

Adrien had never noticed Marinette being caught up over anyone at school before, or during any of the times he'd seen her outside of the building for that matter. She never seemed to be following after someone or blushing when any names were mentioned. So to think she'd been secretly fawning over someone. Or even multiple someones...

He didn't really want to think about it.

"S-so, unless you're trying to get someone to date you, or you admit that you have a boyfriend-"

"Which would not work out well either-"

"-She's gonna know something's up?"

Marinette's head dropped forward and she refused to make eye contact with him as her face slowly grew a darker and darker shade of red. She was clearly embarrassed to be telling him this, but at least she was telling him. That was something, right?

"Should I be jealous?" he asked, an uncomfortable squirming sensation building in his stomach, "Was there just one person or-"

"There was just one guy I had a major crush on!" she burst in suddenly, her hands leaving his own to softly caress the sides of his face instead, her attempt at reassurance, "And another I had a minor thing for, but it was mostly this one guy. Alya used to spend a lot of her time trying to help me catch his attention, so for me to suddenly drop all interest...that's what she's latching onto."

"Huh," he said, his eyes moving back and forth as his mind suddenly started flitting from one thing to the next. Thoughts started to shape and take form, swirling mists starting to solidify as things he'd been fretting about for weeks came to mind. Which started to formulate an idea. One he was pretty certain she wouldn't like. "Maybe," he said, licking his lips in anticipation, "maybe you should ask someone out."

"What!?"

"Hear me out. Ask out someone. If they say no, you can claim being turned down put you off dating, if he says yes, go on one date, then claim you just weren't clicking. Either way, Alya's off your case."

"Let me get this straight, you –my boyfriend– want me to date someone else?"

"On one condition."

She narrowed her eyes at him, her suspicion evident. "What condition?" she asked.

"Can I pick, Princess? Can I choose who you ask out?"

She looked him in disbelief, eyebrows lost in her hairline in surprise. She looked like she was considering whether he was drunk or not. "You cannot be serious. Why would you want to do that?"

"Trust me," he said, teeth gleaming as he smirked at her confused features. If this played out properly, he'd get something out of it other than making Alya back off. Something he'd been hoping for as Adrien before he'd taken the same leap as Chat.

"Who?"

"The boy in your class. Adrien Agreste." There was a beat of silence for a moment as Marinette stared at him, her face a complete mask to her emotions until-

" _ **How**_ _**did you know!?**_ " Marinette's face was suddenly the sheer personification of anger and as he eyed her ears to ensure steam wasn't erupting from them he started to consider his escape options. She could be truly terrifying when she wanted. "Who told you I have a crush on Adrien!?"

"Crush? So Adrien's the boy you like? Wait- _like_ not liked? As in still like?"

"Don't you dare try to change the subject, Kitty. I can't believe you set me up to make fun of me like this. It's so- mmph!"

Chat quickly cut her off with a smooch that was significantly more giggling than actual kissing on his part.


	3. Adopted Cat - Standalone

**Day 3 - Adopted Cat**

"Help me."

Staring into the boy's eyes, Marinette could almost feel the worry that his panicked features betrayed. His breathing was heavy and his hands clenched tightly around the object he held between them. He was unsure. He didn't understand what was happening and had no clue how to escape.

* * *

Making her way back from where she had been stranded after the latest akuma fight, Marinette had been surprised when she checked her phone to find that her mother had sent her a text. Anyone who knew Sabine was aware that she rarely texted anyone, instead preferring to call or talk in person, so when she did actually use the messaging service, it tended to be important or simply impossible for her to talk any other way.

But upon checking the content of the message Marinette had only been puzzled further.

 **Maman: You always wanted a cat didn't you dear?**

She glanced at the message for the fourth time since receiving it before sighing and letting herself in the side door of the building that led up to her home.

She knew they couldn't keep animals in their apartment because of the health regulations for the bakery. She'd had that drummed into her from a very young age, when she'd wanted nothing more than a puppy or a kitten of her own. So why was her mamam talking as if she'd gotten them a cat? Shaking her head in confusion Marinette decided she'd just ask.

"Mamam?" she called as she swung the door to their living space inwards, "What was that text abou-" She cut off abruptly at the sight in front of her.

There, on her living room couch, his shoulders shrouded by the deep blue blanket that she used whenever she was ill, and a mug of hot chocolate gripped tightly between clawed hands, was Chat Noir.

He turned to look at her as she entered, his eyes blown wide before they darted away almost immediately to glance at her father sitting next to him. He looked back to her. "Help me," he whispered, "They won't let me leave."

She stared back in complete shock for a moment. Her partner was in her living room. When there was no akuma. And from the look of him, he was worried. What the hell was going on?

Closing the door behind her and making her way over towards the couch, Marinette finally spotted her mother standing at the kitchen table. She looked like she was adding cold cuts and a cheese selection to a plate with a croissant on it.

"Of course we won't let you leave, son," Marinette's father said from his place next to the boy, "You could have a concussion. You need taking care of first."

"He fell off a roof on his way past the bakery," Sabine told Marinette as she made her way over to them, "he was lying out on the street looking stunned and we couldn't just leave him to fend for himself, could we?"

"I already said I'm okay," Chat said, looking between them all as he spoke, "I just needed a minute or two but now I-"

"Nonsense," Tom interjected, "You were, and still are, shaking. And people down the street can hear your stomach growling from here."

Chat blushed heavily and looked into his mug of sugary goodness, half gone despite his worry. "I missed breakfast because I overslept," he said, "And I had to skip out on lunch to go fight the akuma. It's nearly dinner time now so I can just eat when I get home."

"You haven't eaten all day!?" Marinette found herself half-yelling at him in shock. Not only had he spent all day with nothing to eat, he'd fought and done parkour with an empty stomach. He'd used up his energy on a Cataclysm. And she'd thought poor Adrien had been in bad shape this morning when he arrived to class late after his early morning photo-shoot and admitted that he was dying to have to wait until lunch time to eat. Upon seeing Chat flinch at her harsh words she lowered her voice as she continued, "No wonder you fell. You should eat."

"Well, that's easily solved dear," Sabine added as she approached with her plate of finger foods, turning to address Chat, "Now, are you going to need any more cheese or space to recharge, or do you have time to eat this properly?"

"Recharge?" Marinette asked warily.

"I was nearly out of time. They let me..."

"He hid in your room while we got him something for his little magical friend to eat," her father said and Marinette's eyes bugged out, "But now it's his turn."

Marinette's head was spiralling. Chat had nearly lost his secret identity. If anyone other than her parents had found him while he was hurt there was no telling if they'd have been as respectful of his privacy as her maman and papa. And now, her parents understood about kwamis, at least in whatever limited way Chat had explained it to them. And he'd hidden in _her_ _room_.

Oh God.

"You were in my _room_!?" she screeched, "Did you look around? What did you see?"

"Oh relax dear," Sabine said with a light smirk, "I'm sure a superhero has more important things to worry about than teasing you over your posters of the boy you like."

"Maman!" Marinette said, mortified beyond belief and not entirely sure why Chat also reacted at the same time, pulling the blanket up over his head to hide his scarlet face from view.


	4. Part 1 of Sweet Tooth

**Day 4 - Croissant Murder**

"I'm only going to ask this once, what are you doing?"

Chat Noir pulled away from the glass window at speed and glanced up guiltily at the girl standing watching him. It was Marinette. Of course it was, this was her parents bakery. She lived here. But it was late. Very late. He wouldn't have expected her to be awake at this time, let alone out on the street.

She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head at him and he was reminded that he hadn't answered her question yet. "The food in the window looks good," he said, "and I was hungry."

Her features softened at his words and he could even spy a tiny amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips as she shook her head a little. "You do know that isn't even real, right? We can't leave food sitting out like that for display. There's all sorts of rules for that."

"It's fake?" he asked, turning back to the display of fluffy golden croissants, piled on top of one another in appealing mock disorder and surrounded by little pots of jams, pats of warm and slick butter, and wedges of cheese. In hindsight it was kind of obvious now. The butter would have melted, the cheese moulded, and the croissants would have hardened visibly if they were left out for any length of time. "Pity. It looks delicious."

His stomach growled loudly on cue and he looked back as Marinette frowned at the sound. "You must be hungry," she said, "if you think that plastic rubbish looks real. Do you want to come in and have a real one?"

"I'm not actually hungry per se, but that would still be awesome," he said, face lighting up at the idea.

"Okay. Then, um..." she glanced at the door, then looked up towards the top of the building before glancing back at him and biting her lower lip. "I kinda snuck out," she admitted to him, "and I hadn't really thought about how I'd get back in. A little help?"

* * *

"So, you snuck out, huh?"

"Yeah. But I had a good reason," Marinette told him as she munched on some cookies she had secured quietly a little earlier, and brought up to her bed for them to nibble on, "And no, I will not tell you why. It's my secret. Why are _you_ out so late?"

"Ladybug and I had a patrol," he said through a mouthful of his own, "I passed by here on my way home ad got distracted by the food."

"Fake food," she laughed, continuing to do so as she continued, "Don't you eat?"

"Of course I eat," he said, rolling his eyes at her, "I wasn't even hungry when I first stopped. I just have a very strict diet on what is healthy and what's not. And I get a very limited amount of the not healthy stuff." It was true. His father didn't like him to eat badly because not only would it change his modelling physique, but it would set a bad precedent for the Agreste name if he was constantly seen eating junk by the people who mattered. But that didn't mean he wasn't allowed any snack foods at all. Well, except for right now.

"I just...I have this job," he said, wondering how to explain, "and for a few weeks a year it gets more intense than any other time. My...boss, he, um...I have all sweets and junk food completely cut off so I don't get...lazy."

Fat. So he didn't get fat. His father didn't want him to put on any extra weight right before fashion week. And especially not after his measurements had already been taken, or garments had already been fitted and adjusted to the point that he could barely breathe if he chose to wear a thick under-shirt.

But he wasn't stupid. He knew he was capable of indulging a little without overdoing it. Besides, he burnt off enough extra calories as Chat Noir that he often had to pack in extra calories to avoid _losing_ weight. But no one knew that and so Adrien was banned from sweets and pastries. Which only made him want them more.

"That's stupid," Marinette said with a snort and he jumped a little where he sat. He'd almost forgotten where he was or that she was here. "From now on, you're coming over here when you want something and Regular Guy Chat can't get it."

"Oh really. Whenever I _want_ something? Is that a promise?" It had slipped out before he could remember that this wasn't Ladybug chatting with him, but his sweet and often shy classmate instead. Her face darkened to crimson in perfect pace with his own overpowering blush.

"Do you want your croissants or not?" she asked with a false air of nonchalance, unaware that the colour of her face betrayed the effect his words had had on her.

"Yes please," he said, desperate to distract her and himself, "I could murder a croissant, Princess."


	5. Part 2 of Sweet Tooth

This follows on directly from Day 4 - Croissant Murder but can be read as a stand alone piece

* * *

 **Day 5 – Yarning For You**

"Marinette! Can you come upstairs for a moment please?" Sabine called down from the corridor leading up to their home. Marinette was lucky she'd heard her mother to be honest, as usually, they kept the door which connected their home to the shop front closed during business hours. But it was a particularly warm day and they had opened the side door as well as the connecting door to help create a little cross breeze with the bakery entrance during her weekly after-school shift.

Gesturing to one of the college students her parents employed to take over the register for her, she made her way up to the apartment to find the living space completely deserted. "Maman?" she called.

"Up here," came her answer from above her and raising an eyebrow Marinette made her way up to her own bedroom to see what her mother was doing in there. As soon as her head breached the open space into the room, her eyes widened at the utter chaos surrounding her.

The room was a mess of unravelled yarn. A quick glance at her supply basket told her that every single ball she owned for knitting and crochet was currently tangled across her floor and furniture. And in amongst it all, there was a very large, very colourful lump. The lump was tangled up with blond hair and black ears sticking out from the strings wound around them and a pair of deep green eyes blinking at her sheepishly.

"Oh for the love of-" she said, bringing her hand up to slap against her forehead in exasperation, "You really do destroy everything you touch don't you? Get up, will you? You are _so_ going to be the one tidying up here, you know that?"

He glanced up uncertainly at her mother, who she finally noticed was standing over Chat Noir's cross-legged form, hands on hips, remaining still and unmoving. She had a stern expression on her face, a look somewhere between annoyance and disappointment and Chat's ears drooped flat against his hair as his chin dropped to touch his chest. Marinette's heart went out to him at that moment despite her irritation at the disarray of her room.

And then her mother snorted. It was a long snort, as she desperately tried to hold it in and continue pretending to be angry, but it was already too late and it quickly developed into a full-bellied laugh. Her hands came away from her hips to hold herself around the middle and she bent over a little as she laughed while Chat's eyes just widened and he lifted his head to look back at her in utter disbelief for a moment before he started to laugh as well.

"Do I even want-" - _laughing_ \- "-w-want to know why you-" - _more_ _laughing_ \- "-have a superhero in your room?" Sabine managed to say before going into another giggling fit along with Chat which lasted quite a while before they both finally started to calm down and breath normally again.

"I caught him drooling over pastries the other day," Marinette said, smiling a little herself too, "so I told him he could always come here if he's desperate for sweet foods. I promised to leave my skylight open for anytime he's hungry."

Chat looked over at her, her green eyes sparkling with humour now that the most awkward moment had passed. "I came in but you weren't here. I was just going to wait quietly, I swear, but then I saw the basket and couldn't help myself-" -he turned back to Sabine again- "-and when I heard you coming up, I tried to leave, but...well..." He lifted his arms to demonstrate how thoroughly stuck he was.

One arm lifted without much difficulty but it was tangled in at least a half a dozen colours of yarn all of which linked to his opposite arm as well, very loosely tying them together. The other arm - the right one - however, refused to lift very high at all because most of the pieces (and there was over twice as many as his left) were wrapped much tighter and also looped over his legs, which she now noticed he had crossed more out of necessity than comfort. Even his tail was swatting back and forth awkwardly due to being confined against his upper back.

"I'll get some scissors dear," Sabine said, giggling, "I'm sorry but I don't think we can save all of it and still get him untangled."

"It's okay Maman," she replied with a snicker of her own.

"I'll buy you more. I'll replace everything I've ruined. Sorry."

"Thanks, Chat. Yarn isn't exactly expensive but there were a lot of balls in that basket. It all adds up. Maman?" she added, turning to look at her mother before she finished descending the staircase, "can you bring us up something sweet to eat, please? It's what he's here for after all." Her mother nodded, a smile still adorning her face.

"It's not all I'm here for," Chat said as Sabine disappeared into the room below, "I like the company too, Princess."


	6. Part 1 of L'age de L'amour

This chapter is somewhat of a prequel to chapter 2

* * *

 **Day 6 - You carried me bridal-style in one akuma attack and now Paris ship us together**

Marinette lifted her head from her book as she heard the sound of someone landing on her balcony near her. She glanced up, blanket wrapped around her shoulders to look at the boy standing gawkily by the railing and scuffing the toe of his right foot across the floor in an awkward gesture.

He opened his mouth a little to talk, hesitating for a moment before finally speaking. "Hi Marinette," he said, seeming to relax a little when she smiled at him, "How are you doing?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "About as well as can be expected considering all the attention I've gotten since yesterday."

"Sorry," he said, eyes creased with guilt.

"Don't be. You saved me." She gestured for him to sit down in the spot next to her on the sun lounger and although he moved forward at the motion, he sat on the edge of the table in front of her instead. He seemed worried and she quickly spoke up to reassure him. "You've probably done the same for hundreds of other girls, it was just unfortunate that so many people got videos of you saving me instead of them."

"Yeah. Well, none of them were wearing shorts-" -he gave a humourless snort- "-And I don't often have to carry them all over Paris for close to an hour trying to lose the speed akuma chasing them."

Marinette shook her head at the memory. She'd fallen during the sports day race for the girls in her year group in her own typical clumsy fashion and unfortunately, she'd taken out the girl beside her as she'd gone down. Louise was athletic and had been training for weeks so she had been furious at Marinette for ruining her chances to win.

Of course, when Marinette had run, the girl had kept cutting off all of her attempts at escaping and she'd been unable to find somewhere private to transform. She might have been a goner if Chat hadn't shown up and taken her to the rooftops in an attempt to avoid _Vélocité_. After all, the rooftops had fewer barriers than a lot of the walkways but she'd been fast enough that she had managed to circle around every building he'd tried to lose her on. They'd only gotten away because Marinette had suggested to him that they wait for her to curve around and get out of sight for a few moments before dropping low to the roof, letting her think she'd lost them and giving up with a growl of fury.

But ever since then, everyone had speculated on just why Chat had been so keen to carry her the way he had, as if it was some kind of romantic gesture. Going back to school had been hell. A lot of the kids and even parents had showered her with questions, asked if they were dating (she had adamantly denied that immediately), or if he had at least flirted with her. There were similar speculations trending on the internet not long after and her social media pages had blown up with messages from strangers.

"You carried me bridal-style in one akuma attack and now Paris ship us together," she snorted.

"Not all of Paris," he added worriedly.

And it was true. There were just as many people calling outrage at the presumption that Chat Noir, famous superhero, would dare have any interest in _her_. Many claimed people were only seeing things that weren't there like they were a non-canon ship in a kids TV show. Some, namely his fan-girls, were screaming for Marinette to be called out as a monster of some kind for daring to try and turn his head. And worst of all, were the ones who assumed he was much older and that it was disgusting and predatory for him to like a teenager.

In the last twenty-eight hours she'd been questioned, dragged through the mud and now she was even being pitied and warned against any possible grooming from him as if he was some kind of paedophile.

Which meant he was the one she was really worried for. "A lot of people aren't being so kind to you over this either," she said, "They think you're a grown man and I'm just a little girl."

He shrugged, a sad little look of disappointment on his face. "It's the Miraculous. It distorts how we look to people," he said, "at least, as far as age goes. No one can agree on how old we are. Everyone sees us as the age they expect us to be. If someone thinks kids shouldn't be superheroes, they see us as adults. "

She frowned. "How do you know that?" she asked curiously. It was something she'd never really considered before. She knew that a lot of people thought she was much older than she was but she hadn't dwelt on it too much to consider it was actually a trait of the magic that kept them masked. She hadn't even considered asking Tikki or Master Fu about it because it had simply been convenient to let people think she was anything other than herself.

"I have a...sort of magical helper. Called a Kwami. He can be useful - when bribed of course." He grinned fondly and Marinette smiled softly in response, thinking of how much he'd complained about him during the odd patrol in the past. "Only other Miraculous holders can see us as we actually are, but when it comes to regular people, it's those in their twenties that tend to see me as closest to my real age the most."

"So...how old are you?" she asked gently. She didn't need to know. From what he'd said already, she now knew she could see him as he was. But Chat didn't know that and she had to keep up the charade. Besides, she really wanted to see how he'd respond. Would he lie, or tell the truth? Or would he simply deign not to answer? And just how would he tell her? She wondered if he'd be excited to share or hesitant. As long as he didn't go cold. She wasn't sure she could handle that from him, even if he wasn't aware he was talking to Ladybug.

She waited. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and looked at the concrete floor for a long moment before finally, finally he spoke. "I'm fourteen," he said softly, his voice like a secret on the wind. He looked up at her through his lashes to see her reaction and he was so shy and vulnerable that Marinette felt completely unprepared.

"Oh," she said, "I'm fourteen too."

"I know," he said, and she supposed he did, considering the amount of coverage she'd gotten online. "How old did you think I was?"

"About fourteen or fifteen. I'm just...after what you told me I'm surprised to be right." It was a lie and it felt awful in her mouth. What had really thrown her, was that he wasn't about her age, he _was_ her age. And he'd told her. And been shy about it. She fought down the heat creeping up her neck.

"Is that...okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she mumbled, before shaking herself a little and speaking with more conviction, "Yeah. I think I like that you're my age."

She pointedly refused to acknowledge the blush that had finally forced it's way onto her skin when she saw the grin he gave her in response.


	7. Part 2 of L'age de L'amour

This follows on directly from chapter 6 so better make sure you've read that one first

* * *

 **Day 7 - Mari Protects Chat**

"So once _again_ ," Marinette said, clearly frustrated with the reporter she was currently addressing, "Chat Noir simply saved me from an akuma. He was not then, nor is he now, interested in me."

"So why did he carry you for so long?" came a shout from the back of the crowd.

Marinette gritted her teeth and took a deep breath before continuing. She had asked for this to be arranged to help Chat and fix his reputation. It would not do anyone any good if she lost her temper. "I was being targeted by an akuma who could move fast. There was no way for me to avoid being caught and possibly harmed if he _hadn't_ carried me. And the akuma was making it difficult for us to escape."

"So, an adult did not flirt with you, is that what you're saying?" a particularly slimy online journalist asked. Clearly looking to get a reaction for his little digital tabloid, Marinette thought.

"Just how old do you think Chat Noir is?" she asked him.

There was a murmur through the crowd she was still surprised had gathered in the numbers before her. She'd only asked maybe half a dozen of the local news outlets if they wanted her story on the rumours circulating. Legally they couldn't harass her for information because she was a minor, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to speak to them as long as her parents agreed. Maman hadn't liked it but Papa had agreed on the condition that he was present during any questions. However, when they'd shown up to the pre-arranged meeting place, they'd been shocked to discover that somehow word had gotten out that she was speaking and it appeared to have turned into a whole mini-press conference.

"Are you trying to say Chat Noir isn't an adult?" Mrs Chamack asked her gently and Marinette was glad the woman had agreed to come. She was so much more gentle and understanding than a lot of these vultures, but she did suspect that was only because she knew Marinette personally.

"All I'm trying to say, is you'll probably find it harder to pin down an exact age you all agree on for him. Ladybug too." She smiled. "Their powers and costume are granted by powerful magic and we don't understand everything it can do. You'll find that a lot of young people think the two of them are young too."

* * *

"Marinette!" Chat said, appearing on her balcony and scooping her into a hug before she'd gotten a chance to prepare herself. She dropped the watering can she was using and watched as it clattered away to the floor, draining onto the concrete.

"Um, Hi Chat," she said as he let go, a huge smile taking over the majority of his face.

"You were fantastic!" he cried, and she placed her finger against her own lip and shushed him, lest people notice him up on her balcony and start the rumours all over again. "I haven't had a single nasty thing shouted at me since they printed and aired the stuff you said. A couple people even asked me what age I was – not that I told them of course, but-"

She watched him fondly as he continued to garble out every little thing that came into his head, his manic joy contagious and uplifting. She couldn't help but laugh a little and watched as he cut off mid-sentence and, upon seeing her laugh wasn't a mockery of him, laughed along with her.

"Thanks, Princess."

"Don't mention it Chat. It was my turn to protect you."


	8. Part 6 of L'age de L'amour

Comes somewhere after Mari Protects Chat (chapter 7) and before "Can I Pick Princess?" (Chapter 2)

There will be more parts that come between. At some point. I'm referring to the drabbles set in this universe as **L'âge de L'amour** to avoid any further confusion.

* * *

 **Day 8 - Kitty Kisses**

Damn. He'd done it again.

Chat didn't understand why this kept happening to him. Perhaps he felt a little too comfortable when he came over to see Marinette. It was warm here, and it always smelled of mouth-watering baked goods and coffee. Maybe it was that plus the fact that he was constantly made to wake up early at home which left him feeling a little drowsy whenever he visited Princess.

That and her hand in his hair, which drew purr after purr from his chest.

He stretched his legs a little and arched his back where he lay on her chaise, his head barely avoiding bumping her leg as she sat at the end, phone in hand and scrolling through some webpage or another. As she scrolled, she absent-mindedly scratched at the spot between his cat ears, her nails scraping deliciously against the soft leather-style material now and then– material that he could feel just like a second skin and still didn't quite understand how he could.

He felt his eyes drift closed for the latest of innumerable times as his chest continued to rumble. He immediately snapped the lids open to look up at her when he realised, embarrassed and ashamed for napping when he was supposed to be keeping her company.

From the look on her face she didn't appear annoyed with him. In fact, if he didn't know better he'd think she was the one embarrassed - there was a soft trace of pink bleeding across her face as she glanced between him and her phone a few times. She removed her hand from his head to tap at the screen harshly.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, his purr dying down a bit at the loss of contact.

"Reading," she answered with a slight catch in her voice and he tilted his head curiously and frowned, " and watching some...cat videos."

"Can I see?" he asked, a soft smile returning to his face.

"No!"

He was shocked by her outburst. Enough so that he sat up quickly on instinct and her phone flew out of her hands in shock, landing near him. He picked it up, turning towards her a little as he started to reach out to hand it over."You're not angry at me, are you?" he asked, his hand stilling as he worried his bottom lip at that same thought he'd had and dismissed so many times tonight.

Her eyes were wide, probably from the sudden change in seating arrangements he assumed, but they returned to normal as she contemplated his question. "Why would I be?" she asked.

"Because I can never seem to keep my eyes open," he said, "I'm supposed to be your guest but my eyes just get so heavy when I'm here. Lately, it feels like I'm basically blinking at you most of the time as I try to stay awake." He chuckled a little.

"No! I mean...I'm not angry." Her voice seemed more of a squeak than a normal sound to begin with and he briefly considered questioning her on it before deciding just to drop it instead. She wasn't annoyed. That was the main thing.

He held out her phone to her and the screen lit up when it came into contact with his gloved palm. She must have disabled the lock, he thought as he glanced down. As he started to pass the device back to her, he finally caught sight of the display, which she had apparently set up in the split screen mode. He froze at the sight.

On top of the screen, she'd opened an article which, at a glance, appeared to be about cat behaviour, the paragraph she'd been reading having the words "slow blink" as a header. The words beneath gave a brief explanation as to the meaning behind such and below that, on the bottom half of the screen was a video of a cat slow blinking. Slow blinking just like he'd been doing for the last _who knew_ how many nights.

It'd only taken a few seconds for him to take it all in, cat reflexes and observation being another thing Plagg's transformation seemed to give him and as he passed the phone back, he schooled his features into those of a person who did not feel like they'd just been socked right in the gut.

Quickly laying back down as she returned her attention to the wretched device, he closed his eyes fully this time and purposely refused to open them as he desperately tried to forget the title of the video he'd seen; _Kitty Kisses: How your cat tell you he loves you._

* * *

I updated all the chapter names to help keep track of what drabble goes into which universe and in what order. Hope it helps.


	9. Part 8 of L'age de L'amour

**Day 9 – Belt tail**

"Can I ask you a silly question?

"You can ask all you want," Chat said from where he was laying on his stomach facing the bottom of her bed as he leafed through a magazine, "Doesn't mean I'll answer though." He turned his head and smirked a little as he heard her irritated exhale.

Watching her seated form as she reached out towards him hesitantly, he saw her hand pulling back for a half-second as she reconsidered whatever she was about to do. "Can you feel this?" she finally asked, gently grabbing at the leather-like tail swatting in the air above his back and rubbing her thumb against it with a small sigh. His cat ears stood up straight and his stomach took an unpleasant dip from the unexpected sensation.

"Y-Yeah," he said, immensely glad to be lying down already, "Can, um...can I have it back now?"

"Oh, sorry." She let go with a shy smile and curiously followed the tail with her eyes as it returned to it's lazy swishing for a moment before curling against his lower back, and around and up the side of his ribs. "Are you moving it on purpose?" she added as an afterthought.

"Like, intentionally?" he asked with a frown, "No. It just kinda...does it's own thing. The ears too."

"Huh."

This felt uncomfortable. Normally he had no issues with questions per se, it was just that there seemed to be more to this than she was letting on. It seemed a little more personal than usual, though heavens knew how since she was only asking things he guessed a lot of people probably wondered about him. He desperately wished he knew what she was getting at already so they could change the subject back to something normal.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously, "Spit it out."

She often blushed heavily so he wasn't entirely surprised when she did so, but he was amazed at how she suddenly refused to hide it. Marinette always tried to pretend that she wasn't bothered by anything whenever he teased her or she did something clumsy and embarrassing, so she often turned away to busy herself until her blushes faded. She must have been much more invested in whatever she was curious about than ever before because he was able to watch her face bloom to pink directly this time.

"I've seen the reports where you take your tail off to use during fights," she said, "Do you still feel it then?"

"I-" He stopped. Frowned. He cast his mind back to every fight he'd had since his father had been akumatised - the first time they'd detached his tail to use. He couldn't pin point anything but then he'd always been so caught up in the moment. "I'm not sure," he said, "I've always been distracted when I've taken it off before. I guess not? Or I would've noticed, right?"

Marinette tilted her head curiously at the tip of his tail, flicking slightly as if it knew they were talking about it. "Do you want to find out?" he asked her.

And there was the hiding he'd expected. Marinette's blush deepened as she lifted her shoulders and turned her head to the side. "Only if you want to." He watched as she brushed at her bangs with her fingers and decided it was probably mean to distract him.

He slipped his thumb under the belt where it looped around his waist and willed it to detach as he pulled it away from his body. It slid against his lower back and then his stomach where he was still pressed against the mattress until finally it was completely free of him. He realised there didn't appear to be any sensations coming from it so he gently tossed it to the bed where it sat lifeless and looking very much like a belt and nothing more."Huh. Guess that answers that then," he said and returned to his magazine as if they hadn't just had the weirdest conversation.

Marinette reached out towards the belt hesitantly and he saw from the corner of his eye as she glanced towards him to see if he was looking before finally stroking her hand across it. His nerve endings electrified along his back as if his tail were still attached and he felt his ears straight atop his head. He refused to move, refused to react. There was a rumbling sensation in his chest and he pushed it down as much as he could, giving a gentle cough to cover it up when he failed slightly.

The stroking sensation stopped and he dared a look at the girl beside his legs, his head barely moving as it felt like his tail had wrapped around something instead. Again looking from the corner of his eye he spotted his traitorous tail wrapped around Marinette's upper arm, the tip swaying gently back and forth and rubbing against her face during every movement.

"Um, Chat?" she said and he returned his eyes to his magazine quickly, putting on an air of nonchalance before responding.

"Yeah, uh gonna pass me my tail back, Princess?" he said in a remarkably level voice, "I should probably put it back on before I forget. I don't know what'll happen to my transformation if I lose it." Without looking he held out a clawed hand and was relived when she placed the belt in it without commenting on it's actions while emancipated from him.

 _Maybe if I just pretend,_ he thought, _I can forget this, just like the kitty kisses incident._ The one he knew fine well he'd never forgotten.


	10. Part 9 of L'age de L'amour

**Day 10 - Catnip**

There was a smashing noise from above her head and Marinette gritted her teeth in annoyance. She'd spent a lot of money on her new plants and if Chat had broken a pot just because he wasn't paying attention she was going to kill him.

Pushing her head up through the skylight, she spotted the hero himself, sitting on his haunches and staring vacantly at one of her new plants with his jaw dropped. He looked like he might be drooling.

All anger abating, Marinette climbed up onto the balcony and started to approach the boy carefully, worry evident on her face. "Chat?" she called, "Chat Noir? Are you okay, Kitty-cat?"

He turned to stare at her slowly and it took several seconds for his eyes to focus on her, at which point he grinned widely and launched himself forward, knocking them both through the still open skylight where they landed heavily on her bed. Marinette groaned a little at the rough landing and silently thanked God that she had a loft bed so there wasn't as much height to fall from as there could have been.

"Chat?" she asked with a groan as a realisation came over her, "I thought you said catnip doesn't affect you?"

"Doesn'," he slurred, cuddled into her chest and rubbing his cheek against her in an over affectionate way.

"Really? 'Cause I don't believe you."

"Doesn't though," he insisted with a screwed up frown appearing on his face which Marinette couldn't help but find adorable, "Bought some for my Kwami ages ago. Doesn' bother him, doesn' bother me."

"Maybe. Did you try both dried and fresh?" she asked.

"Jus' dried."

"Chat!" she scolded tenderly. She buried her hands in his hair and tutted at him as he pushed his head against her and purred. He'd enjoyed being petted for a while now, but he'd never been quite this...enthusiastic before. She giggled. "Fresh and dried can affect cats differently, silly. Just because you don't react to one, doesn't mean you won't to the other."

"Is that why those purple flowers smell so good?" he asked as he swung a leg across her body, his tail wrapping around her calf as he did so.

 _Breathe,_ she told herself, _Just breathe._ He was very close. He was very cuddly. She was very confused.

"You smell good too."

"I..."

"You always smell good. And sound good. And look good." He looked up at her, his eyes half-lidded and pupils so dilated she could only see the green in his sclera, not his irises which had disappeared into the black void. "You're so good to me, Princesssss. Pretty Princess. Not s'pposed to like you, you know." He closed his eyes in apparent bliss.

"I think I should go get rid of those plants before-!"

"Not s'pposed to like you. You're not my Lady." He looked up at her again, now half climbing over her to see her face clearly. Marinette licked her lips and reminded herself to breathe again when Chat's eyes lazily followed the motion of her tongue.

"But do like you. Like you a lot." And Chat pressed his lips to hers, using a little too much pressure, mouth and chin still a little damp from his earlier drooling. She gasped but otherwise found herself unable to respond, completely shocked despite the mounting suspicions she'd had lately. As he pulled back he smiled crookedly at her, and Marinette couldn't do anything but stare. She needed time to compartmentalise this and work out how to react.

And as if he knew what she was thinking and was trying to give her what she needed, Chat gently pushed his nose into the junction between her neck and shoulder, inhaled deeply, and fell asleep.


	11. Part 7 of L'age de L'amour

I've fallen behind a little but I wrote 2 and a half drabbles today so I'm catching up again

* * *

 **Day 11: Are you...doodling Chat Noir?**

"What the hell is that?"

At the sound of Alya's voice, Marinette slammed her arms across her pencil work and pressed down, desperately tried to fuse her skin to the paper to avoid giving Alya even a tiny chance of stealing the sketchbook out from under her. As per usual of course, it was impossible to hold out against her best friend.

Alya grabbed one corner of the book and pulled whilst leaning in to tickle Marinette with her other hand and the girl shrieked before diving sideways to avoid an onslaught. "That was mean," she pouted.

Alya completely ignored her as she looked at the sketch Marinette had been working on, face positively beaming at having come across a scoop like this. "Are you...doodling Chat Noir!?"

Afraid to make direct eye contact, Marinette mumbled into her chest, although in fairness, there wasn't any real words coming out to be understood to begin with. "You've been holding out on me girl! You should've said you were crushing on him!"

"Marinette's crushing on someone?" came Nino's voice unexpectedly. Finally looking upwards to see him sliding into his seat, Marinette was mortified to find Adrien was with him and looking at her curiously as if surprised by the whole thing. God, was she really such a platonic person in his life that he couldn't even imagine her being into anyone?

"I _**do**_ _**not**_ have a crush on him!" she said, somewhere between an irritated grumble and s terrified shriek. She could _not_ let anyone think she liked Chat Noir and she certainly couldn't let Adrien think she liked anyone, otherwise he'd become even more oblivious to her potential as future girlfriend material.

"On who?" said oblivious boy asked, head tilted a little and Marinette found that he had such a look about him that she just wouldn't be able to feign ignorance. He was too much like a confused puppy. One who just wanted to be included in playing outdoors and was delighted to be offered the chance, but didn't quite understand why he couldn't just walk straight through the glass doors to freedom.

"Our Mari-bear here, has been drawing-" -Alya slammed the drawing on the desk for the boys to see- "our very own Chat Noir." Surprisingly, Adrien's legs seemed to give out under him as he crumpled into his seat suddenly. Marinette watched as Nino chided him for missing breakfast again, offering up a granola bar apparently kept just for such occasions.

After scarfing down the whole thing in record time, Adrien once again lifted his head and immediately locked eyes with her. She felt her face heat drastically at how intimate such a simple look could feel and determinedly tried not to fade off into another one of her daydreams. She could have even imagined that his own ears were rapidly turning pink if it wasn't for the fact that she was so used to projecting her own feelings onto others at times and knew she must be doing so again.

"You...like Chat Noir?" Adrien asked cautiously and Marinette decided she needed to be quick to correct him.

"No!" she said, "I just...wanted something to draw and...well people are always drawing the two of them, right? But then I didn't want to do another overly dramatic picture, 'cause there's so many of them looking like that and then I remembered-" -she smiled wistfully, her speech slowing and her fingertips tracing the edge of a sketch she'd made of a chibi Chat ridiculously over-stuffing his face with croissants- "I remembered how serious everyone was about when he saved me. And how reserved and serious he had to act until I spoke to the press about it. So...I figured I should try to show the more fun side of him, you know? The way he's meant to be – happy."

Adrien was still watching her when she finished, eyes blown wide and mouth open just a touch, the first hints of a smile appearing around the corners of his mouth. He looked like he might say something in a moment. Maybe he'd be inspired by what she said and-

"Uh huh, sure M." Alya interrupted her thoughts. "Sounds to me like someone got fixated after tall, dark and handsome saved her, and based on what you told the press, he let you in on a few secrets. Maybe let you know he's not too old for a crush on him to be creepy?"

"Alya! You've got it all wrong!"

Adrien swallowed his unformed words to watch as the two girls teased and argued with each other. The whole while he tried and failed to steady the uncomfortable rhythm of his heart as it tried to break out of his body through his ribcage.


	12. Part 3 of L'age de L'amour

**Day 12: Touch Starved**

"Chat!" Marinette shrieked, as the masked hero - who had quickly become her friend on both sides of the mask - scooped her up from behind, pinning her arms to her sides as he hugged her suddenly. She was amazed he could still take her off guard at all considering how often he gave impromptu hugs.

"Oh sorry, Marinette, but these are the absolute best!" He dropped her back to her feet quickly as he went back to the desk to look at the little clay charms she'd made him.

When he'd told her last week that he had started collecting unique charms since a friend had given him a charm bracelet, and expressed annoyance at the lack of original Ladybug and Chat Noir ones, it had given her an idea. So she'd set to work and now watched as he stared euphorically at a tiny red yo-yo and a tiny silver baton, both painted with model paints to add details. It hadn't been easy but once Marinette got something in her head, she just refused to give up. Especially when it was for her friends.

"You have got to stop hugging me like that, you know?" she said, "You'll knock me over or give me a heart attack or something."

He grinned. "Sorry."

* * *

"Come and get warm cookies, Chat! I baked them myself."

After putting the tray down, Marinette braced herself for the inevitable hug as he dashed towards her quickly. "Wow, you made these?" he asked, stopping just short as he reached her and instead taking a small step back as he grabbed a cookie instead.

"Uh, yeah," she said with a frown, not entirely sure why she was disappointed.

* * *

"Argh! I don't know!" Marinette groaned as she tried to find a movie or series she wanted to watch from the pile of blu-rays he had brought over. "Why don't you just pick?"

"Last time I did you gave me a hard time for being such a weeb," he said with a shrug, "It was only DragonBall."

"Well, this time I won't, I'll-" -she bit her lip as her arms twitched a little- "I'll even let you put on that skating one if you want."

"Really!?" he asked, his entire body springing up from his chair in one move excitedly. She took a slight step towards him, arms opening a little.

"Yeah." She braced herself again.

"Great!" he shouted and turned suddenly, heading for the mini player to set up the show for them.

"Yeah," she said, voice catching slightly as she deflated, "great."

* * *

Marinette's foot tapped rapidly against the concrete as she leant against her balcony railing and chewed at her lip. She considered pacing but it didn't seem to be doing any better lately at burning off her restless energy and she'd only end scuffing her new shoes. She begged herself to relax and forced her leg to stop bouncing, but she felt more tightly wound than she remembered being for some time and there was clearly no coming down from it anytime soon.

A small thud brought her back to the moment and she turned to see Chat sitting forward on her round table, slouched in place and head hung low. "Chat?" she said and he didn't acknowledge her in any way. " _Chaton?_ Are you...alright?"

He made a non-committal humming noise in response but remained as small and fragile looking as ever. Gingerly making her way towards him, she stretched out her hand to touch his hair, hesitating a little before sinking her fingers into the blond locks and stroking his head.

He jumped a little in response, not having expected it before relaxing into her touch with a sigh. "I'm okay," he said, "Just a bit down."

"Need a hug?" she asked him.

"Thought you didn't like it when I hugged you?" he said, glancing up with a pained expression. That dumb kitty. Did he honestly think it was all or nothing?

"You can hug me," she said, petting his hair more firmly now, "I just don't like being lifted off the ground. I'm short, you know. Heights are scary." She giggled as his eyes brightened a little at her teasing.

"So I can hug you?" he asked, a small smile starting to appear on his face.

Instead of answering she dropped to her knees beside him and flung her arms around his waist, her face buried in his chest. The second she made contact she melted against him, letting out a long relaxed exhale. Clearly he wasn't the only one who had needed a hug, she realised as she felt the tension of the past two weeks ebb away just by breathing against him like this. She had never been a stranger to hugs, having ready access to them from a number of sources, but she had missed the easy-going way in which Chat reached for a hug whenever something excited him. She had missed the feel of him.

He wrapped his own arms around her instantly, his forehead resting against her hair as he squeezed lightly, in desperate need of the contact to soothe whatever was bothering him, while she hoped against all hopes that it hadn't been because of this stupid misunderstanding.


	13. Part 5 of L'age de L'amour

Written far too quickly with zero proofreading because it is already tomorrow and I am exhausted

* * *

 **Day 13: Nightmares**

"Hey Princess!" Chat shouted as he bounded through her skylight unceremoniously. "What's that?" he asked, ignoring the way her jaw dropped at the way he'd invited himself in without waiting for her approval. It was the first time since he'd started dropping by that he'd done that.

She snapped her jaw shut as she recovered. "Shh!" she scolded him, "My parents are asleep downstairs!" She was not ready to beg forgiveness for waking them before an early start tomorrow.

"Oops," he said, looking anything but apologetic as he grinned bright enough to rival the sun. He pointed. "What is it though?"

Marinette glanced down at the embroidery hoop he was looking at. On it, she had fitted a piece of cotton which she was half-way through working on. Within the frame she had used brown and grey threads – muted colours to avoid overpowering the pastel blue material – but she had embellished it somewhat with sparkling dark blue and silver thread to highlight details.

It was going to be a summer dress eventually, but first she needed to get an idea for how large this embroidery would be when finished. "It's a dream-catcher," she told him, "We covered some Native American history the other day in school and I got inspired."

"Cool," he said, grabbing an apple from her desk, another thing he'd done without permission. She stared suspiciously. "I used to have a dream-catcher when I was a kid," he said, taking a bite, "My dad's always been overprotective-" - _bite_ \- "-and I used to hear him talking to himself about things that worried him. I started having dreams where a kid I knew stopped wanting to play with me or that someone would kidnap me and steal me away." He took several bites from the apple as he finished talking, as if giving Marinette a chance to comment.

"Wow. That's...kinda dark for a kid."

"It's what my dad panicked about though," he said with a nonchalant shrug, "Anyway, my maman got me a dream-catcher. I'd been having nightmares for a while then and I was pretty frightened to go to sleep at night. I'd beg them to let me sleep in their bed with them, but maman wanted me to get over the problem instead of hiding. She told me my dream-catcher would catch all my nightmares but let the nice ones through so I shouldn't worry and go to sleep easily from then on."

Marinette watched him sadly. She deeply regretted that he'd ever had to go through that, but also realised now that his father was probably still the route of all his unhappiness. Looking back, he'd dropped enough comments in front of her as Ladybug that had made her realise his home life was less than stellar. Maybe, even now, his father's worries sometimes worried him too?

In front of her, Chat grinned again but this time his teeth were directed more at the embroidery hoop than her. And, clearly, at his past memories too. "It didn't work. Instead I freaked out that all my nightmares were stuck in the net and that when it filled up they'd either overflow or some very dark and scary creature would appear above my bed to empty it." He snickered. "It took me a month to admit to maman that the thing scared me. But, to be fair, I was only seven."

He continued to watch the design, a sad look floating over his face unexpectedly. "I miss her," he said quietly.

Marinette's brow creased as it dawned on her that Chat had lost his mother and now had a clearly detached but overprotective father. She hated that both the blondes in her life had to suffer such similar fates.

"Do they still scare you?" she asked.

"What?" He'd broken out of his reflection and was watching her wide-eyed.

"Dream-catchers? Do they still scare you? Because if not, I'm sure I could frame this fabric for you." She witnessed his obvious confusion and decided to elaborate, "You could hang it over your bed or something. For her. But since it's just a picture, no creepy dream-emptiers come with it."

She grinned when he did, echoing his gentle giggle that followed until she found herself watching a much happier Kitty as he collapsed at the memory of his own ridiculousness and fighting not to join in herself.


	14. Part 13 of L'age de L'amour

This timeline is getting convoluted and I am struggling to keep it together lol

* * *

 **Day 14 - I told you it was a bad idea to do that**

"What the hell is this?"

Marinette looked up from her latest project to see Chat had let himself in again and from the look on his face, she was starting to wish she'd locked the skylight for a change. The little stuffed dog he was glaring daggers at didn't burst into flame the way he clearly wanted it to but it was still in danger if being destroyed if his clawed and clenching hands were any indication.

"It was a gift," she told him, standing up and scooping up the little soft friend to keep it out of arms reach of her annoyed boyfriend, "It's cute."

"It has a heart on it's collar." He was right, but she had hoped he wouldn't notice that. "Who gave you a stuffed animal that says 'Be Mine' on it?"

She sighed. "Does it matter?" Seeing his unimpressed expression and pursed lip she realised it wasn't going to be so easy to drop this any time soon. "Fine. Michel gave me it after school but was too nervous to stick around for long. I think he likes me."

Chat glowered, his eyebrows furrowing up until his brow was a crease of irritated wrinkles. "And you kept it!?"

"It's kinda cruel to throw away the presents people give me, isn't it?" she replied, glaring back at him. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head a little in response, looking suspicious of something.

"Just how many gifts have you gotten?"

Oh crap. Here it was, go time.

"Quite a few," she said, standing up to her full height in preparation for an argument, "Your genius idea of going on a date with Adrien and then telling him that it wasn't working out backfired. 'Cause now the whole school thinks I'm over my crush and might be willing to move on to someone else!"

She stomped over to her desk drawer, angry at him for ruining her memory of the perfect date with Adrien last week by tainting it with this whole silly mess, and causing her the guilt she'd felt at both sort of betraying Chat and hurting Adrien when she'd had to let him down.

Opening the drawer, she pulled out a dozen cards and love-notes, a handful of stuffed animals and a couple of boxes of sweets she'd been given or had left in her locker over the past week. "I told you it was a bad idea to do that, but would you listen? No!"

Tears were pricking at the corners of her eyes. She would not allow him to make her feel bad because people liked her. His jealousy was his problem, not hers.

She watched as his face fell, realisation sweeping over him. He actually had the humility to look ashamed of himself. "Half the school's in love with you," he whispered as if it was something he hadn't considered until now.

She let out a huge sigh of disbelief. "Don't be stupid. Crush? Yes. Love? No," she said, "I'm...nice to people. They aren't afraid to tell me when they like me the way they are with some other girls." She faked coughed _Chloé's_ name into her hand and he smirked weakly at her antics. "It's just...I think most of them knew who I liked and that I wasn't likely to look at anyone else while I was hung up on him. Now they've all heard that it didn't work out. Because I made sure it didn't work out. I needed it not to...to keep you."

A tear finally leaked from her eye and tracked it's way down her cheek to land on the toy dog she still held. More followed and she found she just couldn't stop them anymore.

For a moment Chat just stared. "I hurt you," he said, a catch in his voice as he spoke. He moved towards her for a moment before changing his mind and snatching back the hand he had stretched out to touch her. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm so sorry Marinette."

And before she could look up at him properly, he had dashed up to her bed and through her skylight, leaving her alone with her pain and tears.

* * *

Gods that was angsty. I hate myself


	15. Part 4 of L'age de L'amour

**Cuddles + petting + nuzzles**

It was another one of his "down days" again.

Marinette watched from her balcony lounger, embroidery hoop in hand, as Chat continued to fake a smile while he tensely sat atop the little table in front of her. Once again the smile was less than his usual toothy grin and yet it wasn't quite soft enough to be a natural lifting of the corners of his mouth, which he sometimes used in lieu of a full smile. This was something she'd become intimately accustomed to as Ladybug on patrols over their partnership – days when Chat's mind was working against him, a thing he refused to admit happened at times. Instead, he would plaster on a smile -one which was truly convincing as long as you didn't know him very well- and flirt with her until her melodramatic reactions and long-suffering sighs made him smile more genuinely.

The trouble was that Chat didn't flirt with Marinette. Or, at least, not as open and obviously. Instead, he teased her softly. He made the sweetest off-hand comments about her being pretty or amazing and talented and then had the audacity to act like he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. He got playful and batted at her pigtails, just like a cat would, and now that he knew hugs were totally okay with her, he often took full advantage to snuggle into her warmth.

Lately cuddling had become a sort of a guilty pleasure for the both of them. It was still awkward to think about but whenever Chat hugged her tight, it would quickly transition from a gentle squeeze to them lying down -on her chaise, or her lounger, or her bed even- his chest against hers and nose nuzzling into the crook of her neck as she pet his hair while he purred. Neither of them ever mentioned it, as if it was a sort of taboo topic, but conversely neither ever acted as if it was anything but normal. They always broke apart slowly and peacefully, Chat attempting to tame his hair back into a much more controlled mess like he usually wore it pre-petting, whilst they went straight back to chatting like nothing had happened.

Which was basically how he handled every little move or comment he made around her. Everything he did was very much flirty behaviour, but more subtle than she was used to as Ladybug. He was definitely friendly but went further than that without ever over-stepping any boundaries she might have set. She was also pretty sure he never even noticed how his own cheeks blushed whenever he cheekily teased or complimented her. Maybe he genuinely thought he was acting as normal friends did, but then she hoped God would help the poor girls he hung out with in his real life - because she was barely able to avoid becoming flustered when he became all cuddly and she wasn't even interested in him. But she knew undoubtedly, there would be a girl somewhere who adored the other side of Chat and who probably became a puddle of goo every time he so much as put his arm around her. Marinette certainly didn't envy her.

And that was what confused her. Because if he'd acted like this towards her when they first met, he might have been the boy she fell for instead. He was so much sweeter and more relatable when trying to be over-friendly with her civilian side than when he tried to get her alter-ego's attention. Whenever he flirted with Ladybug, it was always with such over-the-top flair and had a hint of showmanship about it, as if he were competing against someone else - not for her affections but for scores set by an imaginary group of judges watching from somewhere hidden from sight.

She snickered to herself as she imagined being on that panel as well, face completely deadpan and holding up a sign amongst the others which showed simply a thumbs down emoji in response to a ridiculous pun. Chat's ears pricked a little at the sound of her laughter and his head tilted as he looked at her in an unspoken question. "It's nothing," she told him with a giggle, "Random silly thought." His lips pulled up further in clearly faux humour and her smile faltered as she once again spotted the tension in the way he sat and the stiffness of his grin. "What's wrong?" she asked gently.

Chat's brow creased instantly and his eyes widened a little, whether in panic or shock - she wasn't sure. "Nothing's wrong, Marinette. What makes you think-"

"Come on, Chat. I haven't known you long now, but I like to think I've gotten to know you quite well. What's happened to upset you?" His eyes flitted away from her as she finished speaking, his teeth biting little dimples into his bottom lip with worry. "Chat," she said softly, "Tell me, please. I care about you."

The intense concentration in his eyes mellowed at last. "I…I suppose you do." He glanced at her tenderly and finally, finally he smiled for real. The sight left Marinette chest feeling very warm and her stomach pleasantly squirmy. "It's nothing really," he said, "I told you once before. I just get down sometimes. Like today."

It was true. He wasn't sure exactly what was making him feel so melancholy, all he knew was that his heart hurt, and not in the pleasant way it did when he thought about kittens or his Lady. He didn't want to worry Marinette or Ladybug, and he'd been taught by his father to avoid emotional outbursts so he couldn't act how he was feeling in front of any civilians either. His father just didn't want to give people something to talk about, because being in the public eye -now as Chat as well as Adrien- could result in cruel speculations being thrown around. And he simply didn't want Adrien to have to deal with the trashier tabloids telling anyone who would listen that he was emotionally unstable in some way. He just wanted to protect him. But then so did Marinette, as she'd proved with her little press conference. And she wanted people to think about how he felt. That had been part of the way she'd gotten everyone to stop harassing him – by highlighting that he had feelings like everyone else.

When he saw her put down her embroidery hoop and open her arms for him he was already moving towards her before he realised he had even stood up from the table. "What about your sewing?" he asked her, stopping just short of the lounge chair and glancing at the surprisingly empty hoop she had discarded.

"I haven't made a single stitch yet," she said, gesturing with her arms for him to keep moving, "I'm still waiting on some inspiration. Come hug me, it might help."

He could see her smile as he gave in, crawling up the chair and resting his head against her shoulder as her hands instantly sank into his hair and scratched gently but firmly. He brought his arm around her and slid it beneath her back, his other arm circling her from the other side to trap them together in their comfort. Looking up at her, he could see the warmth in her eyes as she looked over him contentedly.

Marinette watched in peaceful puzzlement as Chat held eye contact with her, almost as if he had a purpose until his eyes very slowly started to slide closed, reopening a moment later to continue looking at her in wonder. Marinette gave him a lopsided smile and raised an eyebrow, ready to ask him what that had been all about when his eyes closed again – this time remaining closed as he started to nuzzle her shoulder and purr.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I'm really behind on these. I probably won't finish all of Marichat May but I will definitely finish L'âge de L'amour before June is out.


	16. Part 10 of L'age de L'amour

Firstly, I'd like to address this Guest review I recieved, "I wish you had L'age de L'amour in order from 1 to whatever instead of it going 1,2,6,8,9,7,3,5,13,4."

Perhaps you'd like to go back in time and get the prompt writers to rearrange the prompts so that prompt 6 is actually day 1 and so on? No?

This was incredibly rude. I was following a prompt calendar. I was trying to write them in order based on the prompt day, not my little story. Especially since I had never intended to make this years MariChat May connected in any way until inspiration hit. For your information I had planned to reorder the chapters when L'age de L'amour was complete or maybe publish it as a story of it's own but that's my call, not anyone else's.

You basically said you wished _I_ _(_ the person who has written a story you are reading -for free-) had done even more for you because the way I choose to present my own story is inconvenient for _you_ , the person who has done nothing but left me a review saying nothing positive about my work.

I specifically name the chapters so you can follow where the next snippet of story fits. I am not the only writer who writes like this and even if I was, the way I write is up to me. On AO3, it allows me to publish each chapter as an individual story and link them all to make one story and I like that so much because it makes it easier to follow. FF has nothing like that so my choices were either to post like this or not post on FF at all - in which case you might not have found it at all.

Okay, saltiness all done now.

For anyone interested in the reading order on here for L'age de L'amour, here it is: Chapters 6, 7, 12, 15, 13, 8, 11, 9, 10, 16 (this one), 17 (unpublished), 2, 14, 18 (unpublished) and probably more but I haven't decided how to work the prompts into what I have planned yet.

* * *

 **Day 17 – Heartbeat**

As Adrien returned to the land of the conscious he was pleasantly surprised to discover that he felt blissfully warm. It still seemed dark through his closed eyelids though, so he was sure it couldn't be the morning sunlight shining through his large windows and creating a delicious sun-trap. Confused, he frowned as he blinked open his heavy eyes slowly and found himself looking directly at the underside of a very pink duvet cover. Adrien knew he didn't own a single pink piece of bedding, so the only logical conclusion was that he had fallen asleep at Marinette's. Realising this, his mind took the next logical step. And panicked.

He flailed under the cover for a moment as he tried to determine whether or not he was still masked (he was) and if he had any idea what time it was (he didn't). Quickly calming himself, he popped his head up from the covers slowly, allowing only his eyes to peek out at first. The sight of Marinette waving was what greeted him, an awkward yet amused smile on her face as she sat against her cat pillow, the room around her basked in the twilight from outside.

"Uh h-hi," he said, starting to emerge slowly, mind furiously trying to determine when sunset had been due today, "How long have I been asleep? Is it late?"

Marinette now felt her heart beating quicker now than when he had first fallen asleep, although she kept her face strictly neutral. She decided to glance at her phone before answering to try to stall for time. While Chat had slept, she had had a proper -albeit whispered- conversation with Tikki and although she was now confident in how she felt on the matter at hand, that didn't stop her being unsure of how exactly to approach this. God she was so nervous and he didn't even seem to remember anything. She took a breath to steady herself and fought down the immediate and irrational urge to burst out laughing. Realising only moments had passed, she checked the time on the phone screen. "You've only been out for about an hour or so," she said, "Feeling better now?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, closing his eyes and sighing with relief at the relatively small amount of misplaced time. He wouldn't have been missed yet. While father wouldn't have checked on him, Nathalie sometimes popped her head in a couple of hours after she expected him to go to sleep. He had gotten a few professional but firm tongue lashings in the past when she discovered he was still up. To find him gone would have caused all manner of problems, so it was a good thing it wasn't late yet. It didn't explain the current situation though. Why had he fallen asleep here? He opened his eyes again and looked at Marinette. "I'm a bit disorientated," he told her, "but I think I'm good."

He gave her a toothy grin for a moment until she glimpsed down his face suddenly, trying to suppress another small giggle when she glanced at his jaw. "You've been drooling again," she said, pointing at the dampness on his chin he hadn't even noticed until now.

"Again?" he asked, rubbing at his face with the back of his hand, "When did-" He stopped.

He had been planning to follow up with more but his hand suddenly hung dead against his chin and fell from his face in slow motion. His mouth dropped open as he realised and there was a very sudden roaring in his ears. The room in front of him blurred, but he could still make out the colours and shapes that were Marinette. She appeared to be calling him but he didn't seem to be able to hear her, his own erratic heartbeat the only physical tie he had to the present moment as his mind flashed back to earlier. Because he now remembered that he _had_ been drooling before – when he'd found her new catnip plants, nose first. And that's when he remembered everything that had come after as well.

"Chat!" Marinette whisper shouted, climbing to her knees at the lack of response. This wasn't right. He had said he felt disorientated, did cats sometimes zone out after a catnip high? She didn't think so but she didn't really know and he was starting to worry her by not responding like this, her earlier unease subsiding to make way for a different, stronger form of panic instead. She shook him gently, another not-quite-shout coming from her throat as tears started to threaten at the edges of her eyes. When gently didn't work, she shook far harder than what she would normally consider safe.

And then, slowly she could see that his eyes were focused on her again. His erratic pupils stopped moving around and narrowed in on her own eyes, dilating further in the darkness of her room. She was barely beginning to relax again before he let out a high-pitched squeal, her hands flying away from his arms where she had been shaking him in fright. She was forced to watch as he wholeheartedly flung himself down onto her bed, arms crossed against his forehead and claws grabbing her pillow as his face tried to burrow into it. Okay. That was a bit weird. But then she had certainly acted weirder around people before so she really shouldn't judge.

Chat could feel the heat from his face warm the pillow beneath it and his closeness to Marinette's scent from the very same pillow wasn't helping matters any as it made him blush even harder than before. He was pressing his nose and mouth into the surface harshly, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he started to struggle to breathe, so he turned his head ever so slightly (towards the wall and away from Marinette, of course) and then readjusted his arm to allow a little air to flow. After all, he couldn't go suffocating himself before the embarrassment got to do him in.

"Chat?"

He whined internally. How dare Marinette's voice penetrate his pillow sanctuary? Was nothing sacred anymore? "What's wrong?" she asked, "Come on, you're going to give me a heart attack if you don't answer." This time the whine was audible to them both. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to worry her, but...but he was _so_ not ready to talk to her yet. Couldn't he take five minutes for himself? Ten? A year? Instead, he sighed.

"Chat's not here anymore," he said, voice muffled by the pillow, "He died of embarrassment. This is his ghost's voicemail. Beeep."

She snickered a little at that, flushed and awkward as she was feeling. At least now she knew that he actually remembered. It avoided the delicate part where she'd have to ask and possibly explain to him what he'd done.

"Come on out Kitty," she told him, adopting a soft voice but using a tone which ensured there was no room for debate, "We need to talk."


	17. Part 11 of L'âge de L'amour

**Day 15 - Ridiculous Romantic Gestures**

The silence was deafening. Chat still refused to look at Marinette for too long and she was already starting to think of all the frustrating time she had spent coaxing him away from her pillow as pleasant in comparison to the present moment.

Once he'd sat up and crossed his legs she'd realised that she still had no idea how to approach this new and wonderfully terrifying situation. But if she didn't break the silence soon she was going to start rambling from sheer discomfort and that never benefited anyone. "So," she started, the rest of the sentence going nowhere fast.

"So," he echoed her, his eyes briefly flicking over her face as he tried to judge where the conversation might go. It quickly became apparent to both of them that Marinette's train of thought hadn't derailed as much as it had never left the station. In fact the driver was probably out back smoking a cigarette whilst his passengers just got more and more frustrated at the delay.

Chat was more familiar with driving than most fourteen year olds considering he and Ladybug had used a lot of cars as distractions in the past, but that didn't change the fact that he'd never driven a train before. He shook his head. Was he that stuck inside his own head that he was taking the metaphor too far? That decided it then. He finally lifted his head and looked Marinette straight in the eyes. She gave a startled blink at his sudden directness.

"So I-I said some things," he stopped and took a deep breath, "and then I...I-"

"Then you kissed me," Marinette said, face remaining completely neutral other than the warm glow slowly transforming her face into a darker hue.

He blushed heavily himself. The train was chugging along now but it wasn't a smooth ride by any means. He felt his heart jump as the rails made their way over the rough terrain. "Yeah," he said, his voice an octave or two too high, "Catnip Chat decided my first kiss should include tackling someone and drooling on them. Not too clever."

His first kiss? Marinette looked at him sceptically. A smooth guy like him? Or at least, a guy who tried to be smooth? Besides, she knew of at least one kiss he'd shared before. "That was not your first kiss," she said, crossing her arms, her face a mask of unimpressed eye-rolling, "Ladybug. The picture from Nadja Chamack's show." She raised an eyebrow and he mirrored her eye-roll before narrowing them in return, some of his embarrassment visibly easing off.

"Okay, first of all," he said, raising a finger to count off, "I don't remember that so it doesn't count. Second, I was under an akuma's influence and since his powers were hate based, a kiss was the only way to break it-" -Marinette felt her stomach dip uncomfortably at the little white lie she had given him as Ladybug to explain away her actions after he'd seen the picture, but she remained quiet- "-and third, because I thought I hated her at the time and she only did it to free me, it doesn't count _even more_ because there were no feelings involved on either side."

All the tension in Marinette's face and shoulders disappeared instantly and she had to fight to keep her mouth closed as her stomach tried to burrow it's way through the mattress below her. "But there was when you kissed me earlier?" she asked quickly, "Feelings, I mean."

His whole upper body suddenly jerked backwards a centimetre in shock and she let out a nervous bark of laughter at his cartoonesque movements until he shyly dropped his head. When he spoke, it was with a quiet mumble, "Yeah, there was."

She'd expected it, more or less, so she wasn't sure why his declaration floored her so badly. Chat Noir, incredibly handsome teenager, superhero and trusted partner; had feelings for regular everyday Marinette. It wasn't that she was all that insecure about whether people found her interesting or attractive as herself; she hadn't been for some time. But there was something about knowing that Chat had fallen for her clearly more confident alter-ego first and had still managed to notice her in spite of his raging crush on Ladybug that made her remember what Tikki was always trying to tell her – she was still Ladybug with or without the mask.

"And...you've never kissed anyone else other than that before today?"

"That's what I implied, isn't it?"

"Then...you know," she said in a deceptively easy-going tone of voice. He lifted his eyes to meet hers as she spoke, a hint of hope floating in them, "considering you were accidentally high on catnip, that kiss probably didn't count either."

"No?" He didn't have a clue where she was going with this yet. He kept his hopes in check as best he could but they still swelled in his chest at the way she avoided looking at him.

"That means you still get the opportunity to make your first kiss -the very next one you have- a big romantic special thing."

Tilting his head as he watched her, Chat couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the way she deliberately refused to meet his eyes still or the way her face heated up. She scooted forward slightly on the bed towards him and she probably thought it had been subtle but he knew better at this point, a small grin appearing on his face and growing steadily. He leant his upper body forward slightly and watched as Marinette mirrored him, even going so far as to tilt her head to the side as well, although he was pleased to see she tilted hers in the other direction to him.

When their lips finally met (a gentle collision which instantly crashed all thought trains they may have boarded) they had both leant across towards the other in equal measure, neither one having been left to brave possible rejection alone. Marinette's hands slipped into his hair and Chat trailed his across her jaw to cradle her face, marvelling at the fact that this girl he had gotten to know so well in such a short space of time could make him feel this strongly already.

They pulled apart slowly, one kiss leading into another and another lazily until finally they simply peered at one another lovingly, Marinette's face a pretty pink colour and Chat no longer caring enough to blush with embarrassment but instead glowing with bliss.

"Kissing is excellent," he grinned, "We should definitely do more of that."

"Eh, it was alright," she joked, scratching at his head in a playful pet, "We should probably practice some more. You know, get better at it?"

"You sure we can improve on my big romantic first kiss?" He smirked as her face darkened further. She gave him a gentle shove. "Hey! No hitting! You were the one who said it first."

"You're ridiculous," she grumbled, but he was pleased to see her smile still remained wider than ever.


	18. L'âge de L'amour update

I'll no longer be updating this story with **L'âge de L'amour** drabbles. These have been placed into an **entirely new story** just for this universe which you can find under my profile.


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